Utility companies charge facilities for their consumption of electrical power supplied by the utility company based upon the facility's peak demand consumption. These rates are set for a duration, such as one year, even though the facility may actually consume its peak consumption for a small fraction of the entire year. For example, if a facility's peak consumption is 1000 kilowatts (kW) for one 15 minute period during the entire year, the utility company will charge the facility based upon a peak consumption of 1000 kW. If the time and date of a facility's peak consumption can be pinpointed, ameliorative steps can be taken to reduce peak demand during those times. During the next renewal period, if the facility can reduce its overall peak consumption, it can realize significant cost savings over the entire contractual period. Other utility companies that supply water, air, gas, or steam may charge for the consumption of these utilities based upon a similar peak usage model.
Existing ways of identifying and reducing peak demand are manual. They are labor intensive, subject to very subjective factors and human limitations, and not always accurate.
What is needed is an automated method for identifying times and dates where demand usage can be reduced.